as most incorruptible and repugnant rectifie their iudgement and subscribe to that of God They shall discerne betwixt the cleane and the vncleane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in strife or controuersie they shall stand vp to iudge according to my ordinance Ezech. 44. 24. Beloued wee know the sacred maiestie of legall decrees and monotheticall exercises may bee well preserued when by lawfull authoritie from higher powers it is committed to religious professors And though Aarons rod must euer yeeld to the rod of Moses and bee iudged by it yet may it sometimes bring forth ripe and pleasant Almonds But I touch here as at the riuer Nile and that onely to cleare the text My scope is to support the weaknesse of your patience and long animitie that as yee serue Christ and walke in him so likewise ye would abide his leasure and waite the time of his reward It was a comfortable speech which the Emperour vsed to Galba in his childhood and minoritie when he tooke him by the chinne and said Tu Galba quandoque imperium degustabis Thou Galba shalt one day sit vpon a throne and let it cheare the Saints of God how little soeuer in the sight of the world that one day they shall sit vpon a throne Et tu Galba impertum degustabis thou Galba thou little one thou Iacob thou Israel thou worme Iacob thou poore Israel that sits in the dust with Iob or lyest on thy bed of sicknesse with him that was paraliticall shalt one day sit vpon a throne and bee gathered with Princes with the King of kings and the Lord of lords that raignes ouer the house of Dauid and turneth righteousnesse into iudgement the Carpenters sonne is gone before to make roome as yet the seates are not built nor the thrones erected when he shall fashion the world anew and returne in the clouds of heauen wee shall bee enstalled with him and receiue as it were Stallum in choro vocem in capitulo A seate in the quire and a voyce in the Chapter of that blessed temple the temple of Ierusalem Now he cryes to vs as he did to Mary Noli me tangere touch me not wee may not touch the seueritie of his iudgements nor the maiesty of his greatnesse touch mee not for though I am gone vp to the Father I am not come downe to you in power Then shall yee sit with mee vpon my throne as I sit with my Father vpon his throne vpon my throne for ye shall partake of my iudgements and yet vpon twelue thrones for ye shall haue your seuerall mansions whilst the whole world doth cry with the Antiochians In Theodoret vicit Deus Christus eius The Lord and his Christ hath got the victorie the Lord and his Saints haue got the victorie Be patient therefore and haue nothing to do with the stoole of wickednesse which imagines mischiefe as a law But stand as men waiting for the Bridegroome with your loynes girt and your lampes burning gird your loynes with chastitie and abstinence kindle your lampes with charitie and holinesse Blessed are the seruants whom the Lord shall finde so doing Verily I say vnto you Hee shall gird himselfe and make them sit downe at table with him and come and serue them Luke 12. 37. Euen so Lord Iesu come quickly it is long since thou camest in the flesh and wast made lower then Angels bee not slow to returne in the clouds and approoue thy selfe higher then Angels dost not thou heare the cry of those soules which lye vnder the altar Quousque Domine how long sweet Iesu Such is the voyce of all thy louing seruants that languish and faint with the continuall expectation of thy glorious presence Quousque Domine how long sweet Iesu Wilt thou hide thy selfe for euer and shut vp thy louing kindnesse in euerlasting displeasure Veni Domine Iesu Come Lord Iesu and make no long tarrying Cibus viatorium salus beatorum saith Fulgentius as thou hast bene the strength and comfort of all that trauell by the way so be the crowne and glorie of all that are come to the end of their way The Prophets desired to see thy comming vpon the earth to the end they might be redeemed Wee looke for thy appearing in the heauens to the end wee may bee glorified Tunc implebuntur vota saith elegant Bernard then shall our longing bee satisfied and our desires accomplished wee that haue followed thee in truth shall rest with thee in peace and wee that rest with thee in peace shall iudge with thee in righteousnesse this peace this truth this righteousnesse this glorie the Lord of his great mercie grant vnto vs for the merit of his Sonne Christ Iesus To whom with the Father and the Spirit bee praise and glorie from generation to generation Amen COELVM APERTVM THE Opening of Paradise HIERON in Epist Nihil Christiano foelicius cui promittitur regnum coelorum LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE FIFTH SERMON MATH 25. 21. Enter into thy masters ioy THe best men are but Gods stewards and as it were dispensers of his manifold graces Whatsoeuer vertues wee haue they are pledges of his loue and gifts of his spirit or rather as it is implyed in the series of this parable talents and deposites of our Lord and master Paul and Dauid agree in one that when hee went on high hee bestowed gifts vpon men and there is none but may professe with Iohn the Euangelist De plenitudine eius of his fulnesse haue we all receiued some strength some vertue some wisedome some knowledge some power some eloquence some faith some holinesse some tongues some healings some prophesies some miracles for the honour of God the beautie of the world the gathering of the Saints the building of the Church the perfecting of our liues the crowning of our soules in the day of our Lord Iesus So that we may not bury our talent in the ground or hide it in a napkin with that vnprofitable seruant lest we be like the Iewes of whom Austin spake Verba non facta legis habuerunt They kept the words of the Law they neglected the works of the Law full of leaues void of fruit worthy to bee excluded the kingdome of heauen and exiled from the presence of God with those foolish Virgines For he is as the text notes a hard man That reapeth where hee soweth not and gathereth where hee stroweth not Though he forbid vs to put our money to vse yet doth hee charge vs to giue his into the banke that when he comes he may receiue it with increase being as Saint Ambrose notes Foenerator gratiae A great vsurer and a wonderfull extortioner not of things temporall as gold and siluer but of things spirituall as faith and holinesse the like endowments lent vs for the good of others Whence is that of a learned Father Augentur dona crescit ratio The larger our gifts the greater our account Hee that gaue vs a blessing will call
the sea as on drie land couer him all the day long and paue the waters with thy safetie as the hils are about Hierusalem so let thy Angels stand about his person bind vp all the winds saue onely Zephyrus and let none bee found at his returne Praeter Iapyga I meane the sweet gate of that Spirit which moued first vpon the waters make the sterne of his ship as the arke of thy resting place and let that heauenly power which came in the similitude of a Doue stand as an Eagle on the top of his mast whilst all the world doth praise God from the ground of the heart and say Blessed is he that enlargeth God blessed is he that enlargeth Israel As for those which make it their honour to suffer with Christ and to ride on in the course of spirituall warfare that so they may aduance the word of truth and of meekenesse and of righteousnesse what can they expect but that God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ should blesse them with all their spirituall gifts of heauenly things in Christ and make them as Ephraim and Manasses the one signifies encrease the other forgetfulnesse till they grow in the fauour of God and forget the troubles of this miserable life they haue Christ and his fortune nay Christ and his saluation and must needs haue good lucke from the Author and fountaine of ioy and happinesse Ride on then I beseech you toward the price of your heauenly calling and remember that of Bernard Incipit deficere qui desinit proficere Hee begins to faile that leaues to profit let nothing stay your progresse vpon the scale of Iacob from the loue of Christ to the knowledge of Christ from the knowledge of Christ to the imitation of Christ from the imitation of Christ to that similitude and conformitie which is promised with him in glorie In Bethlem vilescit in Nazareth ditescit in Bethlem he is poore and little in Nazareth he is greene and flourishing but Hierusalem is the place of ioy and comfort Hierusalem that is aboue Hierusalem that is the mother of vs all there we must seeke him till wee be perfect and receiue that ioyfull inuitation in the Gospell Venite benedicti Come ye blessed of the Father and receiue a kingdome prouided for you from the foundation of the world receiue a kingdome that is your honour Come ye blessed that 's your good lucke such honour such good lucke haue all that heare mee this day euen for Iesus Christ his sake to whom with the Father and the Spirit be honor and glory power and maiestie through all eternitie Amen MVNDI PRECIVM The vvorlds ransome BERN. de Pass Per torcular crucis ad cellaria regis itur LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE THIRD SERMON HEBR. 9. 12. By his owne bloud did he once enter the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. VNction is sacred and neuer vsed but to Kings or to Priests Christ was both and therefore a Christ indeed the annointed of the Lord and the Lords annointed annointed with the holy Ghost and with power annointed as a King and fought himselfe for vs annointed as a Priest and gaue himselfe for vs the combat with Saran the oblation to the Father who sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech I might resemble the Priesthood of Christ to that of Aaron were there not dissimilitudes and antitheses as well as similitudes and conueniences both had their temple that earthly this heauenly both were to make entry hee often Christ once both came with bloud he of bulls and of goats Christ of his owne most deare and pretious both sought redemption he temporall to be renewed Christ eternall and consummate not for himselfe but for others All which the Apostle doth insinuate in this briefe Synopsis By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. What then do wee obserue in the words of my text but a ioyfull procession and miraculous penetration of our high Priest into the holy of holies Those inward chambers of vnapproachable light and vnspeakable glorie where you must first note the way or passage It is bloud Secondly the benefit or aduantage It is redemption The bloud his The redemption ours The bloud once shed The redemption for euer purchased By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. By his owne bloud there is the expiation and satisfaction of our iniquities Did hee enter the holy place there is the eleuation and prerogatiue of Christ Iesus Hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs there is the saluation and libertie both of our soules and bodies from the power of darknesse and the hand of the enemie When Hannibal passed the Alpes he made his way with vineger Et montes rupit aceto as the Poet hath obserued though our Sauiours cup were mingled with gall and vineger yet was it not enough his side must be opened his most pretious heart bloud must be spilt that he may transcēd those heauenly Alpes and make way for our redemption Whence is that of Bernard Sanguis Domini clauis Paradisi The bloud of Christ is the key of Paradise Neither may he lift vp the head vnlesse hee taste of the brooke How shall the corne be laid in the garner before it bee threshed on the floore there is no entring into the wineseller of the King but through the wine presse of the crosse Will you see the grape the sweete grape brused and trod by the foote of pride and the malice of the aduersarie He enters by his bloud Will you see the wine the pleasant wine streame and flow to the saftie of men and the ioy of Angels There is redemption for vs. By his owne bloud entred he once the holy place hauing obtained an euerlasting redemption for vs. I haue now opened the veine of my text as it were and let it bloud ô let not one drop fall to the ground but water your soules with ioy and gladnes it is the sweetest oyle and purest balme that I can poure into your vessels as honie from the rocke And so I begin with the words in order 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 By his owne bloud As the naturall life of man stands in the bloud of his flesh so doth the spirituall life of the Church stand in the bloud of Christ If that had not beene shed wee had all perished notwithstanding the yearely and the monthly and the daily and the hourely sacrifices of that Leuiticall Priesthood I will not trouble you with their seuerall kinds whether Hilasticall of peace and reconciliation for sins committed or Eucharisticall of thankfulnesse and gratulation for benefits receiued Sure I am they were types and resemblances hauing their vertue and acceptance from the bloud of Christ which speaketh better things then all the bulls and the goats the rammes and the calues
blacknesse of our nature the sacred Vnion and Sacramentall coalition of God and man Christ his Church in the cords of loue and the bands of mercie for there is no similitude able to reach the depth hereof shee will euer be in his sight he will euer be in her thoughts shee will be engrauened in the palmes of his hands he will be placed as the signet of her arme Shall I tell you the claime of this interest it is Loue for that was strong as death and cruell as the graue he spared not his life vnto death but gaue it as a ransome for the sinnes of many and sealed it with his bloud crying to her as Galba to his souldiers Ego vester vos mihi I am wholly deuoted vnto you you are wholly deuoted vnto me therefore will hee bee as a seale on her heart and as a signet on her arme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thy arme The words of the Text are as a sacred armorie where you haue a shield for the hand and a couer for the heart or as an heauenly wardrobe where me thinkes I see the cloake and the ring which Iudah left with Tamar the ratification and assurance of spirituall grace and euerlasting holinesse they hold some Analogie with the offices of state the seale and the signet here is a seale a broad seale for the largenesse of our hearts Put me as a seale on thy heart here is a signet a little signet for the roundnesse of our armes As a signet on thine arme Pauca at salutaria expedita at sancta as we reade in Saluianus short and holy few and wholesome breefe in words and precept but in sence durable and permanent That which I shall punctually distinguish vnto you is first the habit and ornament of the Church that is Christ and his righteousnesse implyed in the affixe of my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me or set me Secondly the Part and the Subiect to be adorned that is the heart and the arme Put me on thy heart and on thine arme Thirdly the figure and semblance that is a seale or a signet Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thy arme Last of all the superinduction with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Originall which is vpon or the circumposition with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Septuagint which is about Put me as a seale on thy heart and a signet about thine arme All this is gathered and recapitulated in that of Paul to the Romans Put ye on Christ Iesus and take no care for the flesh to satisfie the lusts thereof But more perfectly in the same Apostle to his Corinthians Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and in your soules for they are his He will be on thy heart by Faith and Truth and inward sanctification he will be on thy arme by loue and holinesse and outward manifestation He will be here and he will be there as a seale or a signet that bearing the markes of Christ Iesus in our bodies wee may be like those thousands of Israel who were sealed in their fore-heads sealed and selected vnto the Lord against the day of our redemption Put him on thy heart for he is the wisedome of God Put him on thy arme for he is the power of God Put him on thy heart for he is the life of thy soule Put him on thy arme for he is the strength of thy flesh Put him on thy heart for he is the onely begotten Sonne of God who liueth in the bosome of his Father Put him on thy arme for he is the mighty Redeemer of the world that sitteth on the right hand of God in the glorie of the Father Put him on thy arme that he may direct thine actions Put him on thy heart that he may settle thy affections Put him as a seale and signet on both that he may know thee for his owne and bind thee to himselfe with an euerlasting couenant Quid enim prodest si Deum gestamus in fronte vitia in animo recondamus as Saint Augustine hath obserued What auailes it to haue God in the fore-head so we treasure vp wickednesse in the conscience If he be on thy heart by studie and meditation he will learne thee knowledge and make thee vnderstand the mysteries of his crosse and the righteousnesse of his kingdome If he be on thine arme for practice and imitation he will order thy goings and make thee delight in the way of truth and the custodie of his precepts If he be as a seale on the doore of thy heart and the posts of thy arme thou shalt not onely escape the punishment of the destroying Angell but exalt thy horne and triumph with the Lord and reioyce exceedingly in the power and glorie of his saluation Thus doth God call vpon vs but it is for our good and comfort There is much pleasure in that we loue though sometime absent but then is our ioy full and there is life in it when that we loue is at hand and present Therefore will he be in oculis in osculis as the signet of our arme for sight and presence as the seale of our hearts for delight and remembrance Put me as a seale on thy heart and as a signet on thine arme Hitherto wee haue lookt vpon the words of the Text as so many coynes of gold siluer I shall now put them in the ballance of the Sanctuarie and take their seuerall value that so I may proceed to my first obseruation Christ and his righteousnesse implyed in the affixe of my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me or set me Some play the Criticks and would haue the Church to speake vnto Christ not Christ to the Church because the affixe is not masculine but of the seminine gender indeed if points and vowels had bene equall with the Originall and not inuented after by the Iewish Rabbins they might deserue hearing but since it is otherwise our safest course is to run with the Fathers I meane Theodoret and the rest who make Christ the spokesman and that for himselfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me and set me Great and wonderfull is the beautie of the creature such as might bewitch the heart of man with the inchanting cup of deceitfull vanitie but whether yee looke vpon the brightnesse of the starres whether ye behold the glorie of the Angels whether ye consider the treasures of the deepe whether ye admire the power of the elements from the center of the earth to the circle of the heauens there is nothing ought to be as a crowne to vs saue that gracious light which shined to Moses in the bush and sate in the Tabernacle amidst the golden Cherubins It is the word of Christ must be as the iewell of our eares it is the yoke of Christ must be as the chaine of our necks